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From a scan of its job openings, it would be easy to mistake UnitedHealth Group for Silicon Valley’s latest artificial intelligence juggernaut. Hundreds of postings seek applicants with expertise in data science and artificial intelligence, part of a sweeping campaign to embed AI in the company’s core business operations. Already, UnitedHealth employs 22,000 software engineers […]

Megan Molteni reports on discoveries from the frontiers of genomic medicine, neuroscience, and reproductive tech. She joined STAT in 2021 after covering health and science at WIRED. You can reach Megan on Signal at mmolteni.13. The White House is asking Congress to cut $5 billion from the National Institutes of Health and to downsize the […]

My patient Claire and I were at odds. She was 44 years old and came to my clinic for a second opinion. The diagnosis was stage 3 rectal cancer. It started with blood in her stool and quickly turned to weight loss and abdominal pain. I agreed with her previous doctors’ recommendations of surgery, radiation, […]

For decades, five siblings in rural Kentucky were slowly turning to stone. After walking for just a few minutes, their legs would painfully freeze up, as if turning to rock — an agony no doctor could explain. By the time the eldest sibling, Louise Benge, reached her 50s, she had come to believe that medicine […]

WASHINGTON — Food and Drug Administration officials briefed senators on the agency’s plans for food policy for 2026, according to a person familiar with the meeting. The agency plans to focus on infant formula safety, updating food labels, defining ultra-processed foods, expanding inspections of food processing plants, and bolstering seafood safety programs, according to a […]

Andres Vidal-Gadea’s neuroscience research was going well. A molecular neuroethologist at Illinois State University, he studies the function of genes, sussing out ways to stop the progression of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. To do so, Vidal-Gadea would knock out genes in nematodes, then have those worms attempt to burrow in dirt or go for a swim […]

I recently spent a long afternoon hiding from the nurse in the emergency room of a prestigious hospital. My sister and I were there with my mother, who has dementia, and the staff reminded us several times that only one caregiver at a time is allowed. But that wouldn’t have worked for my mother. The […]

After OpenAI and Anthropic launched dedicated health care initiatives in January, a study published in February found that OpenAI’s ChatGPT Health had a 50% error rate, incorrectly recommending that care be delayed in emergency test cases half the time.  That error rate, which was not identified before the app was rolled out, is a symptom of a broader problem: the rapid adoption of AI systems by health […]

Tara Bannow covers hospitals, providers, and insurers. You can reach Tara on Signal at tarabannow.70. President Trump’s Medicare director said Thursday his team is considering a policy that would automatically enroll Medicare beneficiaries into Medicare Advantage plans, a controversial idea that was touted in the conservative Project 2025 policy blueprint.  Chris Klomp said the Centers […]

The 340B drug discount program requires manufacturers to sell drugs to safety-net hospitals at deep discounts, so they can reinvest the savings into care for low-income and uninsured patients. Despite its original intent, recent meteoric growth in this program has attracted considerable attention from various sectors. The Trump administration is currently on its second attempt […]